Marks & Spencer confirms customers’ personal data was stolen in hack
A ransomware gang reportedly took credit for the data breach.
The Download: future grids, and bad boy bots
This is today’s edition of The Download, our weekday newsletter that provides a daily dose of what’s going on in the world of technology. Before we embark on our usual programming we’re thrilled to share that The Download won Best Technology Newsletter at this year’s Publisher Newsletter Awards! Thank you to all of you for reading, subscribing,…
Realta Fusion taps $36M in fresh funds for its fusion-in-a-bottle reactor
Realta hopes to build power plants cheaply enough to supply power as low as $40 per megawatt-hour.
Police tech can sidestep facial recognition bans now
Six months ago I attended the largest gathering of chiefs of police in the US to see how they’re using AI. I found some big developments, like officers getting AI to write their police reports. Today, I published a new story that shows just how far AI for police has developed since then. It’s about…
A US court just put ownership of CRISPR back in play
The CRISPR patents are back in play. On Monday, the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit said scientists Jennifer Doudna and Emmanuelle Charpentier will get another chance to show they ought to own the key patents on what many consider the defining biotechnology invention of the 21st century. The pair shared a 2020…
Meta to start selling its Ray-Ban smart glasses in India from May 19
The smart glasses are available for pre-order on Ray-Ban’s site, and will retail for ₹29,990 at Ray-Ban stores at launch.
Improvements in ‘reasoning’ AI models may slow down soon, analysis finds
An analysis by Epoch AI, a nonprofit AI research institute, suggests the AI industry may not be able to eke massive performance gains out of reasoning AI models for much longer. As soon as within a year, progress from reasoning models could slow down, according to the report’s findings. Reasoning models such as OpenAI’s o3 […]
These 5 States Have the Most Affordable Housing, According to a New Report
U.S. News & World Report’s latest rankings found the top five states with the most housing affordability.
AllTrails debuts $80/year membership that includes AI-powered smart routes
AllTrails, the hiking and biking companion that was named 2023’s iPhone App of the Year, is launching a new premium membership called “Peak” that includes an upgraded feature set. This $80-per-year subscription will introduce AI tools to build custom routes, real-time trail condition forecasts, trail traffic heatmaps, and a feature that lets you identify trees […]
Microsoft Build 2025: What to expect, from Azure to Copilot upgrades
Microsoft is hosting its annual Build developer conference next week from May 19 to 22. The event is guaranteed to include announcements regarding new AI integrations, services, and apps, including for Windows. At last year’s Build, Microsoft announced an integration of Copilot into Microsoft Teams, Copilot+ AI-powered PCs, Windows Volumetric Apps for Meta Quest headsets, […]
Tesla’s robotaxi plans have the attention of federal investigators
Federal safety investigators have sent Tesla a detailed list of questions on its upcoming robotaxi service as part of an investigation into how the company’s “Full Self-Driving (Supervised)” software operates in low-visibility conditions. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s Office of Defects Investigation wants the additional information about Full Self-Driving (Supervised) — or “FSD” — […]